Enchantress
by Primordial Falls
Summary: Maka's father always warned her to stay away from magicians. Yet, she still secretly meets with one at least once a week, and has been for the past year, learning from him. When the chance to attend the Academy that all magicians attend comes up, despite her father's protests, how can she say no? Warnings: Fantasy AU, minor OCs. SoMa.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Soul Eater. A OC appears in this chapter. **

**This is a story set in a fantasy AU. The characters might be slightly OOC, but I don't think that their personalities deviate from canon **_**that **_**much. If you feel that anyone has gone too OOC, please do inform me, be it in a review or a PM.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

The Central Market was crowded, people bustling about on the streets. All sorts of traders lay their wares on mats on the streets, some yelling the deals they were offering, others simply keeping silent and waiting for business to come by itself. The beggars knelt by the sides of the streets, holding up their misshapen tin pans and murmuring words of thanks when some kind soul dropped some copper coins in them. Those who had arranged to meet with others milled around the fountain in the centre, trying to pick out their friends from the crowd.

Sixteen year old Maka Evangeline Albarn tugged on the hood of her light green cloak, trying to shield the glare of the late afternoon sun from her eyes. She headed for the part of the market where the food was, both raw and cooked, her route for the day already mapped out in her mind.

"Hello, Maka!" the cheery vegetable seller waved, "whatcha buyin' today? Where ya off to?"

Maka smiled, "just the usual. And I think I'll be gettin' some fish, and I needta stock up on spices," the lilting brogue slipped from her tongue easily.

"Killiney over there's got a pretty sweet deal today. Half off on everything, once the sun goes down. And all regulars at Hilda's get an extra pound o' whatever spices they're buying," the seller handed her a bag of vegetables as he spoke, "and that'll be eight coppers."

She handed over the eight coins, thanked him and went on her way.

By the time Maka was done, the sun had long since set. The torches had been lit, and the path was familiar, so she had no reason to worry. She let her mind wander, and she ended up contemplating which book to read after she was done cooking.

She was so caught up in her own little world that she didn't notice the person standing in her path until she bumped into them, accidentally dropping her groceries.

She snapped out of it, "I-I'm sorry," she murmured, chancing a glance at the stranger. Her eyes widened.

The stranger wore a grey cloak with a black lining and a pin, and the hood was down. She turned to stare at Maka questioningly for a moment, before registering what had happened.

"Oh, it's alright. Here, let me help you get those," she bent down to gather the fallen groceries, handing them back to the stunned girl. Her violet eyes were kind and showed no anger when they met Maka's own green ones.

She nearly dropped the bags again in surprise, "t-thank you, ma'am."

"Oh, it's nothing, really. No need to be so formal. You seem nice enough, what's your name?" apparently, the stranger was friendly too.

"I'm Maka."

"Nice to meet you, Maka. I'm Lilith. Would you mind if I accompanied you on your way home?" she smiled, "I hope you don't mind."

"N-Not at all."

They walked side by side, Lilith's cheery disposition soothing Maka a little. The moment anyone caught sight of Lilith's cloak, they made sure to stay out of her way. With her unusual pale blonde hair, violet eyes and pale features, it was almost impossible not to notice her if one looked at her eyes.

The moment Maka caught sight of her house, she stopped. Lilith stopped too, looking at her curiously, "are you alright?"

"Um, my house is close by. Thanks for walking me back?"

Lilith seemed distracted for a moment, looking about, before realising that Maka had said something, "uhh, sure, no problem," she said absentmindedly, still peering about on the almost deserted street.

"Is something the matter, Lilith?" Maka asked hesitantly, noting that her violet eyes carefully scanned the area, and her elbow jutted out at an odd angle, showing that her hand was almost certainly in her pocket.

When her name was mentioned, she snapped out of her reverie, "huh? Oh, it's fine. I really hope I didn't trouble you by, well, stalking you home."

With that, she turned back and disappeared down a dark alley, drawing her hood up as she briskly turned the corner.

When the magician disappeared, Maka finally let out a sigh of relief, her heart still pounding in her chest. She sprinted up the path, quickly opened the door, entered, and slammed it shut behind her.

"Maka? What's got you so flustered?"

She paused to catch her breath, setting her groceries on the table.

"Papa, I bumped into a magician today. Literally."

Her papa immediately checked on her, "are you okay? Did he hurt you? Oh, sweet heavens, I'll kill him if he hurt my precious Maka."

"I'm fine. And it was a she. Her name's Lilith, and she ended up picking up my groceries for me and walking me home."

Her papa sighed, "Maka, you were lucky this time. The magician was one of the nicer ones, and not the type who would have done something horrible to you for even touching them. Be more careful next time, you understand?"

"I'm not a child anymore, Papa. I know," she huffed, shrugging off her coat and hanging it on the rack grabbing the bags of groceries and storing them in the pantry. She returned the bag of coins for grocery shopping to her papa, took out the fish, carrots and potatoes, and began to cook their supper.

After she had washed the plates, she bolted up the stairs, to her room. Eagerly, she grabbed a book from the shelves, leaped onto the bed, and began to read in earnest, lost in her own world.

* * *

Downstairs, Spirit Albarn slipped a key out of his pocket, unlocking a chest of drawers. He grabbed a small mirror about the size of his palm and, checking that his daughter wasn't there, breathed onto the glass.

An image of a cartoony skull set against a black backdrop appeared, "yo, wassup, Death Scythe?"

"Don't call me that, Lord Death. And I'm here about something related to that. I told you, I don't want any magicians or anything of that sort in Maka's life!"

"Why, what's the matter?"

"She bumped into one of your magicians today, and she even got walked home by her! What if she wants to become a magician after this? There's no way I'll expose her to the risks of all that nonsense!"

Lord Death looked uncomfortable, "Spirit, as you know, Maka has a rather unique aura. I believe that the magician walking her home would have been for the best, even if the magician in question cannot sense it."

"I don't care! The last thing I want is for her to go out on one of your quests and never come back-"

"Spirit, if Maka wants to come to the Academy you will have no right to stop her. However, since you seem so insistent, and your heart is in the right place, I will do my best to keep any swordsmen, magicians and scholars away. I cannot guarantee that this will ensure Maka will not want to enter the Academy."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "thank you, Lord Death."

"I'm not sure if cultivating a fear of _all _magicians in your daughter is the wisest decision, Spirit, but as her father, you have the final say," Lord Death said reluctantly, before his image disappeared and the mirror returned to being a mere mirror.

* * *

The next day, after she had woken up and freshened up, Maka set about tending to the garden at the back of the house. Her papa had gone out before daybreak, as usual, and would not be back till the sun had gone down.

She looked absorbed in her work, weeding the garden, but in reality, her senses were as sharp as ever, and she listened for the familiar sound of a familiar friend's footsteps.

Sure enough, _he_ had come.

She turned to the side, avoiding the surprise attack that he had tried to launch. He landed softly on his feet, knees slightly bent to absorb the impact. Taking the opening given by his effort to land without breaking any bones, she swept his legs out from underneath him with a roundhouse kick. With a yell, he fell, landing on his behind, crimson eyes wide in surprise.

"Nice one, Maka," the brunette smirked, "looks like you've been listening."

He straightened his grey cloak with a light blue lining and a small, cartoony skull pin on the left side of his chest, brushing his hood off. After a long thought, he took off the cloak and left it in a crumpled mess near the foot of the great tree.

She scoffed, "of course. I need to survive, and if what you tell me is even half-true, I might need these skills later on."

They moved so that they could sit under the great big tree in the corner, hidden from view by most. The leaves offered all the protection from the sun they needed, and the air was cool and crisp.

"Uh huh," he squatted so that they could see eye to eye, "I don't know why your dad hasn't gotten you to apply for the Academy yet, but it doesn't matter that much. You practiced your control, right?"

"Yup. Here, like this?" she held out her hand, palm up. Concentrating, she felt a slight surge and a palm-sized, pinkish round orb with pigtails similar to her own appeared in the palm of her hand with a bed of feathers that disappeared almost as soon as they came.

He nodded, tips of his spiky brown hair swaying a little, "I think you've mastered control a while back, but it's always good to fine tune it once in a while."

"Is there anything else you can teach me?" she asked, the manifestation of her Soul fading, "like, I don't know, setting fire to things?"

He paused, "everyone's different, so they can do different things. I've taught you all the things that almost all magicians can do, like telepathy and hiding your aura. Like I've said before, I don't think it's safe for us to try Resonating without a proper instructor, so we'll skip that one."

She sighed, disappointed, "I see. That's a pity."

"Yeah. You pick things up real quick; I think you'd ace the classes at the Academy in no time."

He watched as she continued to weed the garden, thinking of more things to teach the girl. _Who knew that a chance encounter could turn into _me_, a failure in my classes, teaching a genius with untapped potential?_

He chuckled as he remembered their first meeting. He had had a bunch of spare time, and so walked around, bored. He had run into a little spot of trouble and ducked into the first garden he saw. After hastily explaining his situation (leaving out certain bits that no one needed to know), Maka had agreed to let him hide there. He had also vaguely sensed her aura, realised that it was extremely flexible and fit within all three schools of study in the Academy, and so decided to teach the girl some tricks.

He dropped by every three days, teaching her a little of this and that. It had been nearly a year since they started, and Maka had already picked up everything a first year student learning magic, battling and intellectual studies would learn, in almost half the time. To say that he was impressed was an understatement.

"Hey, you there?" Maka asked. He had been in a daze for a little while, and she had finished weeding the garden already.

He made up his mind.

"Here, take this," with a thought, a plain scythe with a black handle and a simple blade appeared in his outstretched hand, and he offered it to the blonde.

"I'm sure you'll be able to wield a scythe. Now, you see, scythes are different from swords…"

* * *

By the time the brunette was done teaching Maka for the day, it was late afternoon. He bade her a quick farewell, hopped over the fence and disappeared from sight.

She ran into the house and decided that taking a bath would be best. She filled the wooden tub with warm water, disrobed and sank into the warmth, scrubbing herself clean. She got out, dried herself off and put on a new set of clean clothes.

Maka finished up the rest of the chores and prepared supper just before her papa came home, right on schedule.

_Perhaps Papa is a little late today, _she mused. To alleviate her boredom, she went to her room and grabbed a sack of coins that fit snugly in the palm of her hand, bringing it back downstairs. She counted her savings, concentrating hard on making sure that the numbers tallied with her memory. Her fingers brushed against an oval emerald the size of a hen's egg. She thought she saw it glow briefly, but dismissed it as a trick of the light.

Without realising it, she slipped it into her pocket.

She pulled the drawstrings, making sure that her pouch of savings was secure. As she took the first step up the stairs, about to put her savings back, the door almost blew off its hinges.

"P-Papa?"

"Maka, grab your things, we've got to go," he strode over to a chest of drawers, swiftly unlocking it and grabbing a haversack. Somewhat confused, she dropped the pouch of her savings into the haversack, which her papa slung over his shoulder. He grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her out.

Everything was bathed in dancing flames.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. If the next chapter's up and you like this so far, please do continue on. If the next chapter's not up yet, or you didn't like it, you're free to go back and browse the other wonderful fanfictions out there.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I do not own Soul Eater. Sorry for the delay. An OC appears in this chapter.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Raging flames consumed the houses of their few neighbours, who ran out of their homes, carrying their belongings and running for safety. As Maka's eyes came to rest on their own house, she could see that the roof was already set on fire. She felt a pang as she realised that her books would surely be burnt beyond recognition, along with most of the house itself.

"Papa, what-"

"It doesn't matter. We have to get you somewhere safe, quickly," he said brusquely.

Smoke was thick in the air, and the houses were about to collapse. They began to sway precariously, and her papa hastened his pace.

She could've sworn she saw a hint of pale blonde hair from an alley, but when she checked again, no one was there.

They ran down the streets, the trees all burning, orange and red autumn leaves set ablaze. Her hand was beginning to hurt from the tight grip of her papa, but she knew that he was worried, and didn't want to lose her. They stopped short of a fallen branch blocking the path and her papa led her down one of the many alleys. They barely made it through before the house collapsed where they would have been if they hadn't run fast enough.

They continued running through alley after alley, even after the flames were gone from sight.

He finally stopped, panting. When he caught his breath, he looked at her in the eye, "Maka, stay here, and don't go anywhere until I get back, okay?"

She nodded, unsure. He took off, going back the way they had come.

_What happened? A fire? But I've never seen fire spread that quickly…_

She sank onto the ground, resting her back against the wall of the alley. She worked on catching her breath, thoughts running through her mind at the speed of light. She shut her eyes, unconsciously gripping the emerald tightly in the palm of her hand.

It was like she had acquired a sixth sense, a second sight. She could see round orbs everywhere, inside all living beings. Shocked, she opened her eyes, and found that the orbs were still there. She could vaguely sense something that felt like her papa, as well as three other orbs near the fire.

There was also something headed her way.

Startled, she released the jewel, and the orbs disappeared. Maka could still hear hurried footsteps headed her way, as well as a strange, persistent ringing in her ears.

Somehow, she could tell that it was Lilith headed her way.

"Are you alright?" she murmured, kneeling down next to her. She reached into her cloak and extracted a phial, handing it to the confused girl, "drink that, it'll stop the ringing in a bit," she added.

"H-How did you know about the ringing?"

"Magic makes a rather remarkable sound, in more ways than one. You made a tiny bit of noise, but just enough that your father heard. He doesn't know you made the sound, and I presume you don't want him to know."

The liquid in the phial was crystal clear, and when Maka poured it down her throat, she tasted nothing. The ringing, however, stopped. Lilith took the phial back.

"When your father comes, I'm going to say I made the sound, casting a protective enchantment on you. Go with that story. And keep that emerald safe. Don't ask me anything, I can't tell you," she instructed, still in a low murmur.

She placed a hand on Maka's head, murmuring something. She heard a very faint ringing, but it came and went quickly.

Her papa came rushing back, glaring at Lilith. She put both her hands up, showing that she was unarmed, and pushed her hood back.

"I found Maka here by herself, and I don't think she'd be any good against the witch, if the witch decided to take a hostage. I put a protective charm on her; it wears off in a little bit. I know of your distaste for us, but considering the situation, I thought that the safety of your daughter was more important than a prejudice," she explained.

Her papa nodded curtly, "your friends have subdued the witch," he pulled Maka to his side, his grip firm on her shoulder.

Lilith turned, drawing her hood up, and walked away. The silent message had been clear enough, at least, between the sender and the receiver.

"Papa, what's going on?" Maka whispered.

Three individuals ran toward Maka and her papa, "is she alright?" the black haired boy who looked around Maka's age asked.

It struck her as odd that anyone could look so symmetrical. The only things that weren't symmetrical about the boy were the three white stripes on one side of his head, but absent on the other.

"She's fine."

"Where are you going to stay now?" the taller, long haired blonde asked her papa.

The shorter one introduced herself and her friends, "I'm Patty, she's Liz, and we're twins! The almost symmetrical one is Kid," she snickered as she said 'almost symmetrical'.

Upon hearing those words, Kid fell to the floor, sobbing. Maka fought the urge to burst out into laughter, and Patty didn't even bother fighting. Liz sighed, tentatively kicking his behind with one white boot.

"Come on, you're not trash. You're still our partner, even if aren't always symmetrical. At least you _can _be perfectly symmetrical, and that's something too, right?" she sank down next to him, patting his back.

"I-I guess," he choked out, getting back on his feet, "anyway, since you have nowhere to stay for now, why don't you come stay in the palace? Father will be pleased to have you back, Spirit."

Doubt clouded his features, "I don't know, Kid-"

"What do you mean, the palace? Is he some sort of royalty?" Maka asked, lost.

"He's Death the Kid, son of Lord Death," Liz said.

"Oh."

An inkling of a plan took form in Maka's mind.

"Please, Papa, can we stay in the palace?" she hated using her persuasive voice on her papa, but she had questions that needed answers, and the palace was the best place to stay while looking for them.

"I-Oh, alright, fine. Lead the way, Kid," he agreed reluctantly.

* * *

Maka had only ever seen the palace from outside once in her life, but it was even grander on the inside. Chandeliers lined the ceiling, tapestries hugged the walls and the entire floor was carpeted. While Kid went to show her papa to his room, blatantly ignoring his pleas to be placed next to his daughter, Liz and Patty dragged Maka off.

"Which part of the palace do you want? We only have one other long-time guest coming to stay with us, so practically all the rooms are free."

"Could I have one facing the Academy, please?" she begged. Liz nodded after a moment's consideration.

They led her down grand corridor after grand corridor, and Maka was certain that she would get lost without help. Finally, they reached a door, opened it and pushed her in.

There was a huge, soft looking bed next to the windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The curtains were drawn, and candles lit up the room. The bookshelves were empty, much to her dismay. A round table and four chairs stood to the corner, opposite a writing desk. A full length mirror stood tilted at an angle next to the wardrobe. The hearth burned merrily, firewood placed in a basket next to it. With the red carpet and red covers for the bed, the whole room looked bathed in red.

"So, how's it? Like it?" Patty chirped.

"Sorry to trouble you, but could we go to the library? I have some books I want to read," Maka said.

Liz smiled, "let's go, then! We'll grab some books to fill up your shelves and leave you to read in peace."

Before Maka could even agree, they had dragged her out the door already. She gave up trying to memorise the path, leaving everything to the twins. Before she knew it, they were in front of a door that looked different from the others. Patty practically bounced in, Liz holding the door open for the two of them.

The dark wood of the shelves gave the impression that the library was very dark. Shelves and shelves of books filled every available space, the barest minimum space given for walking. Like in the rest of the castle, chandeliers hung from the high ceiling. Tables and chairs were placed in the middle, oil lamps providing additional reading light.

"So, what books do you want, Maka?" the shorter twin asked.

She answered straight away, "fantasy. And…" she hesitated. Her papa had never said that she couldn't read books on magic, only that she couldn't have contact with magicians. She was pretty sure that the twins who were currently waiting with bated breath for her to finish her sentence were magicians anyway, "magic."

Patty clapped, "of course! Let's get the fantasy ones first!"

* * *

"Spirit, I hope you realise that trying to keep Maka away from magical influence isn't the safest option for her. She has the potential to excel no matter which school of learning she chooses. I think that it would be fairest if you allowed her to see what she could learn, and let her decide what she wants to do," Lord Death insisted.

"No. I don't want any magic in Maka's life," he said stubbornly

"Please, Spirit, don't let what happened to Kami-"

He glared at the skull, "_don't mention that ever again_," he hissed.

Lord Death held his hands up in surrender, "but, really, would you want her to be defenceless at a critical moment, or would you rather she has the knowledge of how to protect herself? You can't protect her forever, Spirit," he added.

The fight seemed to go out of him, and he sighed, "let me think about this," he mumbled reluctantly, exiting the throne room.

"Kid!" Lord Death called.

He came in, making sure to walk exactly in the middle of the room, "yes, Father?"

"Could you get our other guest for me? I need to speak to her in private," the skull had rearranged itself into a disapproving frown.

Confused, Kid hesitantly nodded, "yes, Father."

He went out, wondering what in the world their other guest had done to annoy his Father.

* * *

For the next few days, when Maka wasn't reading, eating or with the twin sisters, she was gazing out the window, watching the magicians train. She tried to look for _him_, and for the violet-eyed girl, but neither of them appeared.

When she asked Liz, since she was obviously a magician, the blonde stared at her, "a guy with brown hair and red eyes? I don't know any guys with _brown _hair and red eyes, but I know an albino with red eyes. Did you find someone you like just by staring out that window of yours?"

Flustered, she had dropped the subject almost immediately, but _he _still remained in her mind.

After discovering Maka's curiosity toward all things magical, the twins were kind enough to answer any questions they could.

"What's a witch?"

"That's what we call the magicians who have turned rogue, and have used their powers for harmful purposes," Liz explained, "we send in a team usually made of one Weapon and one Meister to subdue the witch."

"Then, what's a Weapon and Meister?"

She stared at Maka blankly, "I'm… not too sure what the exact definition is. Look it up, I think we grabbed a book on that when we combed the library. I _do _know that Patty and I are Weapons, the dual bowguns. We can change our forms into those of our Weapon form, and summon variations of that form to use in combat. We can't summon ourselves, though."

Maka processed the information, "so… only Weapons can summon weapons?"

"Pretty much."

So that narrowed down her search a little. Her mysterious teacher was a Weapon.

Unfortunately, she couldn't have Liz and Patty answer her questions all the time, because they had classes. So she reverted back to staring out of her window, watching.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the second chapter. ****If the next chapter's up and you like this so far, please do continue on. If the next chapter's not up yet, or you didn't like it, you're free to go back and browse the other wonderful fanfictions out there.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****The chapter has been rewritten, because I wasn't satisfied with it when I looked through it after publishing it.**

**Sorry about that. Enjoy.**

* * *

"We have successfully executed the Witch."

The corners of the mouth on Lord Death's mask quirked up into a smile, "excellent. I take that you and Soul were able to cooperate with each other during the mission?"

The emotionless expression of the girl in the mirror did not waver, "no. On the contrary, we found it extremely hard to synchronise our Souls and disagreed with each other throughout the course of the mission. Our Souls were constantly clashing, thus I have concluded that your attempt to find Soul a suitable Meister has failed once more."

"Ah, is that so? That's a pity."

"If I may be as presumptuous as to attempt to read your mind, Lord Death, you do not seem very upset by this. I believe that you have found a suitable candidate to match Evan's Soul?"

He nodded, "indeed. Unfortunately, her father isn't very supportive of magic anymore, because of what happened to the girl's mother."

"I see. Perhaps you can attempt to persuade the father, who loves his daughter very much, by giving the daughter a glimpse of life at the Academy that she will find to her liking. Her conviction may break through her father's prejudice and he just might give his consent," her voice remained neutral, but he could hear that she chose her words carefully.

He chuckled, "ever the diplomat, aren't you, Seraph?"

"It is what I have been raised to be, Lord Death. In any case, we should have returned to the Academy in two days if there are no distractions along the way. Should there be a change in plans, I will do my best to inform you of them."

With that, she dissolved the connection, leaving the mirror empty.

* * *

_Darkness clouded her vision, leaving her blind. Gripped by fear and confusion, she used all of her senses to figure out what was happening, for at that moment, anything, anything would have calmed her. Anything other than the bitter regret that ate at her heart, and the pain caused by unknown wounds._

_There was the smallest, sort-of awareness of a light, soothing peach-pink colour, but instead of soothing her as it should have, it brought nothing but sharper, more agonising pain that spread like wildfire. Instead of affecting just her heart, it seeped through her entire being. She fought the urge to scream, but found that she could not move anyway. She was trapped, in the seemingly never-ending darkness._

_She could hear the faintest thrashing sounds, as well as an ominous, heavy '_thud, thud, thud'_. But she was blind and paralysed; what could she do to identify what was producing the sound? She had never felt so helpless, so alone…_

Maka flinched away from the green gem, flinging it halfway across the room in her haste to remove her hand from it. It landed with a series of muffled thuds as it bounced against the carpeted floors, the soft, green light that previously flitted about within it flickering and disappearing.

The ringing sounds started up again, but they stopped almost immediately, unlike last time. Trembling, she used a cloth to pick up the gem and quickly kept it back into the pouch, hiding it behind the bookshelf.

She had picked it up earlier out of curiosity, having forgotten what it was and about what Lilith had said. The moment her skin came into contact with the gem, her vision had immediately turned dark and her recurring nightmare played out.

"…It was nothing. Nothing at all," she assured herself, striding out of her room in an attempt to clear her mind. She felt drained and exhausted, so a walk through the castle would snap her out of it.

…But why did Lilith seem to know so much about the emerald? And what had she given her to drink? Would her papa let her go to the Academy? Who was her mysterious, elusive teacher? So many questions ran through her mind, but there were no answers to them.

Her feet led her down several hallways and staircases, and she ended up at a part of the castle she hadn't explored. It was chilly, and progressively got darker as she carried on down the long, endless hallway. Eventually, torches set in iron rings embedded into the walls provided a source of light, but the flames did nothing to warm her. In fact, it was even colder than before.

Curiosity beckoned her toward the end of the endless hallway. Dust gathered along the sides, stuck to the occasional cobweb. When she turned back, she saw her footprints amidst the dust, slightly assured by the fact that she would be able to find her way back to the inhabited part of the castle. No one had been down this hallway for a long, long time.

"Who are you?"

A quiet whisper directed at her left ear came out of nowhere, causing her to shriek in surprise. She spun around, turning to face a boy.

His head was covered with bandages, but some strands of his black hair still peeked through. She had no idea how he was able to see her, since the white strips were wrapped around his eyes as well. What she could see of his face was so pale it was almost white. A huge, billowing white robe engulfed his body, trailing along the floor, the sleeves far too long.

"W-Who are _you_?"

He scowled, "isn't it polite to answer my question first?"

"How was it _polite _to scare me?" who was he to mention politeness when he had scared her on purpose?

His scowl turned into a smirk, "I didn't need to be polite. You're intruding on the entrance to my shrine. You're not supposed to be down here."

"Shrine?"

"Answer my question first."

With a deep breath, she tried to introduce herself courteously, "I'm Maka."

"Maka what? Do you not have a human parent?" he sighed in mock despair, "what sort of experiment has Lord Death authorised?" bitterness laced his voice as he mentioned the god.

"Albarn. Maka Evangeline Albarn," he was getting on her nerves, but his apparent dislike of Lord Death made her wonder why he didn't like the kind ruler.

"Oh, it even has a middle name! Isn't that nice?"

"It?" how dare he refer to her as an 'it'!

He nodded slowly and seriously, "yes, _it_."

And proceeded to ruin the gravity of his statement by chuckling.

Chills raced up and down her spine at the sound of his chuckle. It was filled with the sort of glee a sadist had when watching others in complete and utter pain, warning others of mental instability and to stay far, far away from them.

"Ah, is it scared? That should teach it never to intrude again, hmm?" he chuckled once more, then adopted a more serious tone of voice, "really, no one's allowed down here except Lord Death. So don't ever come back, little creature. Or I might not be able to protect you from the evil at the end of this hallway a second time."

Before she could even completely process what he had said, he waved his hand (though it looked more like he was flapping a sleeve) and gusts of wind came out of nowhere, whipping against her. The flames of the torches flickered, and went out, leaving them in darkness. Instinctively, she raised an arm to protect her face, but the moment her eyes were covered, the winds stopped.

"What was that?" she asked, looking around. There were no more cobwebs, and the sun shone in through the tall windows.

She had many unanswered questions, but the boy had disappeared, and she was back at a corridor near her room.

* * *

"Spirit, I'll be giving Maka a guided tour of the Academy tomorrow."

His eyes narrowed, but he bit back his objections once he realised that the ruler wasn't taking no for an answer, "fine."

He got up and exited the dining room, practically slamming the door on his way out.

Maka retrieved the fork she had dropped in shock when Lord Death announced his plans, putting it back onto the table and passing her empty plate to a waiting servant.

"Why is papa so angry?" she wondered aloud.

Lord Death actually looked uncomfortable, "that's something we'll talk about another day. In any case, I'm sure you have no problems with this abrupt change of plans, right? I've already asked Liz and Patty, and they don't mind that you won't be going out tomorrow. In fact, they insisted that you get the chance to see their school."

They had intended to go out to the Central Market and shop a bit, but since Liz and Patty had agreed to the change, Maka saw no reason why not to.

"Are you going to be the one giving me the tour? I thought you were busy."

He scratched his head, "did I say that? I meant that our resident Alchemist will be giving you the tour, and answering all your questions."

"Alchemist?"

"It's what we call those who make different substances out of certain ingredients. This one has a gift when it comes to Alchemy, and is probably one of the best in the entire kingdom. She can probably cure anything under the sun, as well as identify different poisons and antidotes simply by swirling the contents of the vial once or twice. Unfortunately, some of the students don't like her so much because of her pride. She's an Elf, you see, and you know what they say about Elves."

She knew that Elves were mostly prideful creatures because of the fact that they held a superior affinity for magic over most of the population, and also because they generally were rather beautiful creatures. She had never been to the Elven embassy before, but she had heard stories about their pride and how they ill-treated those who, in their eyes, damaged it.

"What's the name of my guide?"

Lord Death smiled cheerily, "you've met. It's Lilith."

When she opened her mouth to argue that Lilith wasn't _that _proud, Lord Death held up a hand to silence her, "yes, I'm aware that you don't think that she's proud. In the Academy, though, she has to maintain a certain image, or the embassy will think that the school's influencing her in a negative manner and remove her from it. Furthermore, Lilith doesn't have the affinity that most Elves do, which is why the embassy sees her as slightly defective already, so playing on everyone's prejudice of Elves will probably be the best course for her. At least, that's the advice I gave her when she first came in."

It clicked in her mind, "Lilith's a school staff? I thought she was a student!"

He laughed, "you know how Elves physically age more slowly than regular humans? Lilith may look a few years older than you, but she's actually a few years older than your papa."

"Now that I think about it, how does papa know you anyway, Lord Death?" she asked, confused.

He pondered the question, putting his fingertips together and answering slowly, "your papa's helped me out in the past. To show my thanks, I granted him access to those rooms in the castle should he ever need them, but he never used them until now."

Maka could tell that he hadn't fully answered the question, but accepted the explanation anyway.

"Go to sleep, Maka. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

That night, she dreamt of darkness and loneliness, and the long, dark, dusty hallway.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the**** third ****chapter.****If the next chapter's up and you like this so far, please do continue on. If the next chapter's not up yet, or you didn't like ****this chapter (especially with the addition of another OC, Seraph, and the boy, a modified canon character, as well as the new information on Lilith)**** you're free to go back and browse the other wonderful fanfictions out there.**

**Extra A/N: Because of yuuki24688's influence, I've started a little tumblr blog. Most of the posts will be likely to be about this story while I am in the process of writing it, and I **_**may **_**include additional content in there, such as little trivia about the OCs, or small side stories. The url is primordialfalls. then the usual tumblr. com, so if you ever feel like checking it out, you're free to. If you don't want to, don't worry, you're probably not missing out on much. At the moment, there's a little apology/explanation post, but I just might post some random stuff if I feel like it.**

_**This Extra A/N will be removed once Chapter 7 is uploaded. The link will be moved to my profile.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I do not own Soul Eater. A new OC appears in this chapter.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Vincent couldn't remember when exactly he'd mastered the ways of the nobility. It had always been a part of him; it ran in his blood. His little sister, on the other hand, probably remembered the exact day she did so. She had been raised to believe that it was her duty to protect her brother in any way possible. Her lessons could probably be dubbed "Nobility 101: Protecting the Archduke's Heir".

He repressed the urge to mess around with his affinity for lightning, to watch those bright blue sparks dance along his fingertips, arcing around his knuckles, flashing across his palm. Instead, he devoted half of his attention to the messenger droning on about his assets-no, his _family_'s assets.

"So, Father has decided to leave it to me whether or not to raise the taxes of the people in his land?" really, being a noble could be _so _irritating at times.

"Yes, Young Master," the messenger nodded. He caught the flash of a faint smile on the messenger's face. Clearly, everyone knew exactly what he thought of them.

He sighed. Honestly, he missed Seraph at times like this. Usually, she would be by his side, expression wiped clear of emotions, and would murmur some extremely helpful advice into his ear. Of course, he was more than capable of making decisions on his own. It was just that having his sister around calmed him.

"Lower them a bit. I'd like for the people to be on my side if I ever rise to Father's position."

The messenger nodded, "I will inform the Archduke of your decision."

"If that is all, you may leave."

When the messenger left, he abandoned his upright posture and slouched against the wall. Honestly, he was used to wasting his spare time on matters like these while everyone else went off and played, or socialised with the others.

"Are you thinking about Seraph?"

A voice startled him, and he straightened almost immediately, the notion that he had been caught abandoning his perfect image horrifying him, but relaxed once he saw who it was.

"Black*Star, don't sneak up on me dammit!"

He grinned, "don't tell your god what to do!"

"Not that whole "god" nonsense again. Anyway, what was Lord Death thinking, sending two Weapons out together? Seraph may be able to wield a Weapon, but that doesn't mean she's that good at it!"

"Geez, calm down. Seraph can handle herself fine," Black*Star huffed, "and Soul's a pretty cool guy. Believe me, she might not admit it, but she and Soul get along pretty well."

"Still, what if-"

He was cut off by the sound of the first bell, a cheerful chime that resonated through all the hallways and outside the school.

They stiffened.

"Shit, we're late! Stein'll kill us if we don't make it, and we're all the way on the opposite side of the campus!"

* * *

"The Death Weapon-Meister Academy, or the DWMA for short, is the leading school for magic, swordplay and scholarly studies in all the kingdoms. There are two different curriculums, the NOT and the EAT. The NOT class focuses more on scholarly studies, and is more theory-based. The EAT, on the other hand, focuses on fighting, and is mostly made of practical lessons."

Maka and Lilith wandered along the gardens, the Potions Master explaining the differences between the classes. Maka had taken a look at the dormitories, infirmary and canteen earlier, and sat through a NOT class a few minutes before. She had wanted to fall asleep, but she fought to stay awake.

"How do you decide who goes where?"

"There's a little test. Usually, one of our teachers will try to face off against you, to see what you can do, and they judge your potential from there," she stopped to inspect a white rosebud that had black markings on the petals.

"Anyway, these are the gardens. No one's allowed here without my permission, and I take care of all these plants," Maka could hear the pride in her voice, "they're the rare ingredients I can't get from the market. Hard to grow, but when they do, I can work wonders with them."

"I see."

They came to the end of the row, and Lilith gestured to a wooden door.

"There are many ways to enter and exit the school building. Lord Death thought it was funny to not give us maps or directions, so there might be some secret passageway that no one knows about or something. At least, that's what the students like to say," she chuckled, and they went in.

It was dark, three dying candles illuminating the room. Messy sheets of parchment lay scattered across the desk, and empty vials stood in their wooden holders on one long table.

A light blue liquid bubbled in a test tube, suspended over a pit, flames licking the sides of the pit occasionally. Lilith picked up a piece of parchment seemingly at random, then, frowning, put on a pair of plain brown gloves and removed the test tube, putting it in a rack.

"Thank goodness I got here on time. Nearly overheated again," she murmured to herself, placing the tube into a wooden test tube holder.

The liquid slowly turned darker as it stopped bubbling, until it was an inky purple.

"This is the brewery, where all the supplies for the infirmary are made. It doubles as my private quarters, since, well, alchemy doesn't seem to be a very desirable route for most of the students. That's also partly the reason why it's so messy here, because no one comes in here except for me."

"Maybe I can come by once in a while?"

"You won't have the time, and it's alright. Medusa, the nurse, comes by once in a while, so it's not that bad. Her knowledge of alchemy is rather impressive, but not as impressive as mine."

She shook the vial, which hissed and lightened to a clear lavender solution. Satisfied, she reached into a cupboard overhead and put a pinch of something in, placing the test tube back over the flames.

"Come, I think you'll like the next part of the tour most."

* * *

When they finally made it back to class, they found, to their immense relief, that the silver-haired scientist had not arrived yet. Black*Star clumsily fell into his seat, catching his breath.

"Where's… Stein…" he panted, still winded from the run.

His Weapon partner sighed, "he's not here yet. You should try not to come late every time, you know," she shot him a meaningful look.

"I forgot. Besides, as your god, I should have the right to be late whenever I want," he huffed.

"Heh, someone's cranky now that his best friend's away," the blonde noble snickered, "and hey, Tsubaki."

"_You_ should know better than to turn up in class late, Vincent," she reminded him, "just because Seraph isn't here doesn't mean you can just use the excuse that no one reminds you."

The moment his sister was mentioned, he practically wilted, slouching back to his seat. It was Black*Star's turn to snicker.

At that moment, the door to their large classroom opened, and Stein walked in, the Alchemist following behind him with a blonde girl.

"Settle down, or I'll dissect you," he said lazily. Immediately, the class quietened, giving their attention to the scientist.

"Someone wanted to sit in on today's class, to see what it's like. She may or may not be joining the school, but I expect you to be on your best behaviour anyway," he turned to address the girl, "you can take that empty seat."

Lilith left, and the girl suddenly looked much more unsure of herself. She frequently glanced around the class, as if she were looking for someone. When she finally made it to her seat next to Vincent, she seemed much smaller than when she had been with Lilith.

"Hey, I'm Vincent. Guess I'm stuck with you for today, huh?" he smiled.

She smiled back at him with uncertainty, "I'm Maka."

That name sent alarm bells ringing in his head.

_Maka_? Was it the Albarn? Daughter of Deathscythe? The one that his father had warned him to be nice to? Perhaps she was just being modest and shy. Surely she had _some _idea what her position actually was.

"Vincent, it seems that you know a lot on the topic. Tell me, what will happen if a person is both a Weapon and a Meister?" Stein was giving him his "I-know-you-aren't-paying-attention" look, with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

How the hell was he supposed to know?

Right at that moment, Maka whispered to him, "then they can wield a Weapon, synchronising their Soul with that of their partner's, and become a Weapon, able to tune their wavelength to that of a Meister's, thus having an extremely flexible wavelength, and maybe even have more than one affinity."

Shocked, he dutifully repeated her words in verbatim, too used to doing repeating the words Seraph would murmur to him from the seat that Maka was occupying now. He caught the flicker of surprise that flashed across Stein's face, and the sharp look he gave Maka. Clearly, the professor knew that _he _didn't know shit, but he knew that Maka clearly did.

Those minute emotions went unnoticed by most of the class, some of them turning to give him expressions that clearly indicated they had no idea that he knew the answer.

"Correct. Very well, let's go to the training area," this announcement was met with cheers from the class, who were silenced with the look that Stein shot them, "I expect to see all of you there in half an hour, by the next bell."

As the students began to get up, Vincent tapped Maka's shoulder, smiling.

"Hey, could you come with me for a second? I'd like for you to meet some of my friends."

She blinked, "okay."

"Black*Star, Tsubaki, wait for me!" he grabbed her wrist, pulling her along with him.

"Oh, hello. I'm Tsubaki, his Weapon," she pointed to Black*Star, "and that's Black*Star, my Meister."

"I'm Maka."

Vincent decided to just ignore the look that the pair gave him, opting to grin like an idiot and shove Maka toward them.

"Hehe, I thought that if you did manage to get in, it'd be nice if you had some friends, yeah?" he scratched the back of his head, partly embarrassed. Here he was, building valuable relations, being subtle and underhanded and everything he hated but had to be.

Her green eyes, so much like Deathscythe's, lit up, "oh, yeah, thanks!" she smiled.

Tsubaki immediately warmed up to her, and the two began chatting away like old friends. Black*Star, on the other hand, slinked toward him and muttered something into his ear, which he returned with a flat look.

"Anyway, are you using her as a substitute for Seraph or something? Seriously, they're almost the same, if not for how this one's a lot shyer."

He glared at the blue-haired Meister, "would you like to have me shoot you with Seraph when she gets back?"

"You know, every time you say that, it gets funnier. Seraph is an _umbrella_, for goodness's sake. Though, I won't deny that it does hurt a lot," he admitted.

"Hey, at least she's useful. I can use her to communicate with Lord Death on missions, since she has that whole reflective surface on the inside," he pointed out, "while you have to carry around little, easily broken mirrors."

They made their way downstairs at a leisurely pace, half an hour more than enough time for them to go anywhere.

"Why did the professor give us half an hour to get there? Doesn't it only take a few minutes?" Maka was asking.

Tsubaki tilted her head, thinking, "well, some of the students here are members of the aristocracy, so they need the time to attend to matters. As for those who aren't, they have the chance to catch up on homework, or go and train more. And some students just use the time to eat or sleep."

"Like Soul," the two males snickered as they spoke in unison.

They could tell that she was curious, "who's Soul? What's he like?"

"He's away on a mission now, with my little sis, Seraph. You see, any time during the term, we could be assigned missions, or choose to take missions. We'll leave the campus for a couple of days, a week at most, to finish the mission, and then report back to Lord Death when it's done. Soul's your generic slacker, who has a complicated relationship with the professors-"

"By this, he means that the professors seem to hate him. He's in the same class as us. He doesn't do any of his work properly, but when he does, it turns out pretty good. He always thinks that doing homework isn't "cool", so he doesn't bother. Everyone has trouble tuning their wavelengths to his, so most of the time, he slacks off because he can't do anything that isn't related to the sound affinity," Black*Star finished, "he's also my best friend," he added.

Vincent continued, "he always slips out of class to go who-knows-where. Still, he's a pretty cool person, since you don't see white hair and red eyes on everyone. And he's really quite a good friend once you get to know him."

Black*Star's stomach growled, putting an end to their rants.

"Shall we head for the canteen, then?" Tsubaki smiled as Vincent teased Black*Star and was rewarded with a kick in the stomach.

"Okay," there was a gleam in Maka's eyes that had not been there earlier, but she seemed much more relaxed and happy now, to Tsubaki's relief.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the fourth chapter. If the next chapter's up and you like this so far, please do continue on. If the next chapter's not up yet, or you didn't like this chapter (for example, if you find that there are too many OCs)you're free to go back and browse the other wonderful fanfictions out there.**

**Thanks for reading.**


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